The Legendary Past

Michael Oakeshott on Imagination and Political Identity

The book explores Oakeshott's thought on the key role human imagination plays in relation to the political.

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The book explores Oakeshott's thought on the key role human imagination plays in relation to the political. It addresses four main themes: imagination, foundational narratives, the question of political societies’ identities as well as that of human living-together, to use Hannah Arendt’s expression. The book’s main objective is to show that Oakeshott may be rightfully understood to be a philosopher of the imagination as well as a foundationalist thinker in the Arendtian narrative constructivist tradition.

"But where The Legendary Past – Michael Oakeshott on Imagination and Political Identity really comes to life, is amid its many provocative and social assertions, of which there are numerous."

Source: The European Legacy

Credit: Efraim Podoksik

"The persuasiveness of Riendeau's interpretation rests on her very careful reading of Oakeshott’s texts, so that even the sceptical reader has to admit that her line of argumentation is not artificially imposed on Oakeshott but is based on the ideas and vocabulary found across his entire corpus. She thus makes a significant contribution to the scholarship, and from now on no Oakeshott scholar – whether he agrees or disagrees with her conclusions – should ignore this important study."